Guaiabero Parrot

[GregH]

I've was given yet another baby bird to rear last Thursday evening - just a few days after I got back from Australia and just when I'm supposed to be getting rid of everything here! Cute isn't it? It's a baby Guaiabero parrot (Bolbopsittacus lunulatus) that one of the helpers found on the road in our compound whilst walking a dog. Since I've had him in my quarantine cage I've noticed that there are more of these parrots in the mango tree out the back. I don't think I can release him yet as he can't fly and isn't at all interested in eating fruit from a dish so I'm giving it a lorikeet mix (Avione Rearing and Conditioning mix) that I feed the hanging parrots with. I had been feeding 2-3mL, every 3h during the day but I'm taking my kids ice skating today so it will have to learn fast. I tried 5mL at the last feed and it coped so I'll give another dose just before we leave. I could do with some advice here as I'm no parrot expert. Does my feeding regime sound about right for a fruit eating parrot and how can I wean him onto fruit that it eats independently?

[jusdeb]

Wow what a gawjus bird .

Not an expert on the squirters hand rearing regime but what you have said looks Ok to me .

Just keep offering more and more fruit and less formula you could even start leaving the formula in a shallow bowl to teach it to be more independant ...just change it often so it doesnt go off.

VR1 is the man who would know for sure .

[jusdeb]

It certainly looks healthy so whatever your doing is working .

[Nathan Morleyy]

Greg,
What type of hanging parrot do you have and can you take youre bids in the Philippines to Australia?.

Thanks Nathan

[GregH]

Compared to a finch ther's a lot of meat under the feathers - he's pretty chunky which is good as it give me some buffer while I get it to feed itself. I don't know of anyone that keeps them here in the Philippines but sine almost noone leagally keeps anything perhaps they just don't talk about it!

Nathan I can't even take KFC to Australia. The Hanging Parrots are Loriculis philippinensis.

[arthur]

Diet:
Fruits such as: guava, mango, peaches, pears and apples; vegetables such as: carrots, zucchini, sweet bell peppers; cooked beans and pulses combined with a complete pellet; small amounts of sprouted seed such as: sunflower, millet, buckwheat, canary seed; lory mix comprised of: fruit, pollen, brewer's yeast, rice flakes, multigrain flakes, dextrose and low-fat yogurt; regular vitamin and mineral supplements.


Pinched from the net . . No doubt you would be up with this anyway

A puree of fruit mixed with lorikeet mix and fed by syringe (not crop fed but simply dribbled into the bill). Probably be a bit resistant being wild caught. Feed warm. Leave same mix with it in small cage so can be easily found.

You can only do what you can do

PS If it is reluctant to opening bill hold a twig or such for it to bite and use the opening created

[jusdeb]

So long as the keel ( breastbone front ) feels blunt and covered I'm happy .... A sharp keel that feels like it is exposed is a under weight bird .

Correct me if I'm wrong , its how I was taught to examine a bird for weight issues.

[GregH]

Well my baby survived the 7h I was away and was given two feeds (3mL @ 5PM & 5mL @ 8PM). The keel is still well covered but I do think it lost a little condition but it's hard to know without weighing it. I can only do my best. There is a vet in a nearby town (Calamba) that runs an animal rescue center however theri specialty seems to be Macaws with beak and feather disease so I'm not send it there.

I've tried a range of seasonal fruit (mango, paw paw, bananna, grapes, sweet corn) but nothing entices it. I left the Avione mix dry with it last week as I was lothe to wet it up and leave it in our tropical heat and humidity for the time I'm at work. Luckily I do come home for lunch. It has been accepting the feeding and handling more readily than when I first got it so it knows where the food is coming from which will make this process easier. Thanks for the feeding pointers Danny but I'm afraid there won't be any pellets - even my lorikeet food is what I personally bring in. I might try a fruit puree with the lorikeet mix and start dribbling it rather than straight into the crop tomorrow. maybe byt the end of it's first week in captivity it will explore the fruits available

[VR1Ton]

If you can get it to eat wet food, put diced fruit into the wet to entice it to eat it.

[arthur]

Remember to feed it warm (not Hot) . . They won't accept it cold